The Style of Kodeka's Works

Camera Monthly is the oldest and most influential photography magazine in the world. 6 1 year was published regularly in English, French and German, and 1982 was closed for lack of funds. Today's famous photographers are all introduced by this thin monthly magazine (the cover is only 50 pages) before they go global from the region. The camera represents the direction of photography for more than half a century, and it is also an important symbol to affirm the status of photographers. Joseph Kaudelka (1938-), aged 67, was introduced by the camera five times (1967.11970.3/1972.2//kloc-0. Since then, Kodeka has become one of the most famous and important roles in the new generation of photography. With his skill, becoming a master is just around the corner. This photographer who was born in Moravia, Czech Republic, is very special. Since his debut, he refused to take photos, visit, explain his works and express his artistic views. He almost refused to publish anything except photos. So for ordinary people, although they are very familiar with his works, they are very strange to him. Most of his creative background and thoughts were revealed in an interview with Allan Porter, editor-in-chief of CAMERA, 20 years ago. After that, most of the remarks about him were repeated over and over again. He said: "I won't judge his photos by what other photographers say. I judge them by photos and hope that I can be judged by the same standards. " What kind of person is Kodeka? A critic, Dam'ele Sallenave, once said: "The loneliness and loneliness of Kodeka reminds people of jean jacques Rousseaux (1712–78), a person who loves human beings but hates people; Full of longing for the golden age that is gone forever-this puritan from far away has a prophetic name and a prophetic beard. God always reveals himself to the soul of the prophet. " This compliment is a bit excessive, but it can be seen that in the eyes of people fascinated by Kodeka's photos, he is undoubtedly a new milestone in photography, just like henri cartier bresson (1908 ~), the most famous master in photography, created a "decisive moment" that was regarded as a classic, just like Kodeka's photos were exposed. From the plane design room to the life of jeep guests, Kodeka originally studied aviation engineering, which has nothing to do with art. At the age of 23, he just graduated from Prague Institute of Technology and worked as an aviation engineer for seven years. He used his spare time to perform in 1 funny and ironic theaters every month as a guest photographer. Because he didn't have enough money, he felt that he couldn't build an aircraft engine that could maintain the minimum safety, so he gave up this career and began to turn to photography wholeheartedly. Kodeka's earliest full-time photography job was to shoot stage stills for Prague Jia Blanu Theatre. This job has deeply influenced his shooting techniques and work style in the future. He said: "The director of the theater allowed me to take photos freely during rehearsal. I walked around among the actors on the stage, shooting the same scene over and over again in different ways. This incident taught me how to achieve the most perfect and perfect situation in an existing situation. I still continue to work in the same way. " "A large part of my photography revolves around festivals and activities held every year. The process of these events is more or less fixed, so I know exactly what will happen next; I know the actors, I know the story, I know the stage, and when those actors and I are at their peak, we can take a good photo. " "Sometimes, I can achieve this goal at once, but usually for various reasons, I just can't reach the best situation of a scene, so I will keep shooting until I succeed, and the efforts again and again have helped me and ensured that I will be the most perfect and extreme. Kodeka regards life and the street as a special way of shooting drama and stage. When he turned the topic from the theater to the life of gypsies, this kind of investment in filming gypsies almost all his life was even more rare. After visiting the Roma community in Czech Republic, he expanded his shooting scope to the whole European continent, including Roma in Romania, Britain, Ireland, Venice, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium and other countries. Kodeka has been stateless since he left the Czech Republic for asylum on 1970. Although he lived in England, he spent most of his time wandering around Europe, like the gypsies he photographed. Unique shooting technique and wandering working mode. Kodeka's early works were all shot with the lens of the same monocular camera. When he was in the Czech Republic, he bought a 25mm wide-angle lens from the widow of the late photographer Kitty Jenichek, and he couldn't put it down. Kodeka's solo exhibitions in Prague 196 1, 1967, 1970, Britain 1973 and new york Museum of Modern Art 1975 all used this 25mm wide-angle lens. The 60 photos of his sensational Gypsy album (published by APERTUER in America and DELPIRE in France) are no exception. It was not until he felt that his work was a bit repetitive that he began to switch to a binocular camera, but he still preferred a wide-angle lens and never used a telescope lens of more than 50 mm It was almost impossible to see the work that Kodka had just finished, because he always took thousands of rolls of negative films accumulated over the years in one breath. Because he has never had a fixed home or a fixed darkroom, his recent works often take five or six years to be published. Kodeka didn't put photos, but there were five or six thousand at a time. Not only did he release the works that he thought were satisfactory, but those that failed were more meaningful to him. He said, "accidents and mistakes are equally interesting to me. They can show me whether it is possible to develop further. I urgently need the help of these bad photos. "Kodeka often hangs a lot of photos on the wall to study, taking those photos that can't stand looking for a long time away from them day by day, and finally leaving them on the wall as good works. The first person to get help from Kodeka was Anna Pallova, a famous Czech female art critic. Whenever foreign artists visited Prague, she strongly recommended Kodeka to others, and his reputation began to spread to the West. These famous tourists include Aaron Porter, arthur miller and female photographer Luger Morath. However, for Kodeka, the most important thing is that he met Bresson by chance and got his appreciation and affirmation. 1970, when Kodeka went to the United States from Britain to receive the robert capa (19 13- 1954) memorial prize, he met President Magellan's photographer Elliot Erwitt again (1928-). Since then, Kodeka and the photographers who helped him have been listed among the important photographers in the world today. Kodeka has never accepted any business entrustment or magazine invitation to take photos, and he has full freedom in the group of "Ma Genan". He can take whatever he wants. He said that he only took pictures for himself and thought that "there is no unbreakable law in photography." Or: "There is only one rule in photography. You should shoot in the way you think you should. "In many photos, Kodeka has a fairly complete composition and just the right shutter timing. His observation method is shocking at the core of the incident. He said: "The first impression is very important to me. I often take a photo of it where I was standing, and then make any necessary corrections if circumstances permit. " "When taking pictures, I don't always aim at the target with my eyes. If the border of the photo is not very accurate, I will cut it off when I enlarge it. "The particles in Kodeka's photos are very thick, with great contrast and strong sneak shots, but the composition is quite rigorous, like the result of careful waiting, rather than an impromptu accidental discovery. The combination of these two contradictory effects makes his works have a strong personality-both rough and meticulous, emitting a passionate passion in the cold black and white tones. Kodeka is like a director who doesn't interfere with actors. He just waits coldly for people, things and things to combine into a scene before picking up the shutter. He is interested in the development of drama, not just an actor or a stage. When Kodeka, a person who doesn't want to be bound by the past, was selected as one of the top 20 photographers in the world today and had to say something about his creation, he still repeated the old saying he said 10 years ago, but in the text, he added an interesting sentence: "The discussion I am talking about photography now belongs to the present and the past, and tomorrow may not be true. I don't want to list some laws and regulations for others, and I don't expect myself to be restricted at any stage. My life and work are changing. "What photos will this vagrant who has never set foot in this country since he fled the Czech Republic take until he saw the publication of his works five or six years later, and he didn't know in which direction he was creating? Bresson took a photo of Kaudeka, which showed him walking on the grassland with his head down. The wind blows his "prophet's long hair", but he can't see the front "prophet's beard" and five senses. This photo fully shows Kodeka's maverick personality and his wandering mood in the past 20 years.